Life so far

Jeremy didn't start work until Monday, so last week we were able to get a lot done.  It was really nice!

Last Tuesday we got everything out of a box and it felt so good!  I sold the boxes on Craigslist.  That felt good too. :)

(Boxes standing up are full of packing paper! We had even more not pictured.)

Last Tuesday we also got some pots and planted 3 varieties of tomatoes, red bell pepper, and basil.  Yummm...we haven't had to water them a single time!  Thank you Portland rain. Haha.

 Last Thursday we drove the 15 MINUTES to the temple!  We walked around the grounds and popped in the new Visitors Center for a bit.  We'll definitely be back soon.  It was overcast and a little drizzly (our new normal), so I'll try and get some pictures another time when you can see the white temple better with a blue sky behind. :)

 I am in love with these dark green trees!  It would have been hard to go somewhere without trees after being back east.  Portland is full of evergreen trees and they are so dark and so beautiful!

 Our piano has already gotten a lot more use (from me too, not just these two!) now that it's out in the open instead of hiding in Anna's room/office/teeniest-room-in-the-house.

 Just a picture of our cute girl!

Saturday we went to the Portland Farmers Market downtown.  It was amazing.  We had fun sampling lots of things and just took home a few things.  Eli was very excited about the berries.  Oregon is known for growing the best berries (and they are EVERYWHERE).  Boysenberries grow wild everywhere - along the side of the road, in the parks, etc.  We're excited to go picking in August!  We had boysenberries in our backyard growing up and biting into those that day brought back a flood of memories.  Yummy!

 A few pictures of our backyard.  It's small but perfect - fenced, flat, little swing-set left by the previous tenants, and private with all the big trees.  Being able to send the boys out in the backyard by themselves - and have them love it - is the greatest thing ever!

Eli's first comment when we got here was - "Mommy, we have our own maple tree!"  We do, it's a beautiful Japanese Maple, and yes, he's a genius. :) 

These were this week...

 And today...

So Jeremy started work this week by flying to Cleveland for 3 days.  Boo. But we survived and he got back last night after getting a speeding ticket just a few miles from home on his way back from the airport.  Double boo.  Poor guy.  So today is his first day of work here.  As of lunch time, it seemed to be going well!  The kids and I also went to a park playdate thing with people from church yesterday at a u-pick Berry Barn.  Eli picked us a pint of delicious strawberries and then we played at the playground for a bit and made some new friends.

We're enjoying getting to know everything here.  There's still lots to explore and learn, but we are getting there.  In the 2 weeks we've been here, I'd say the weather has been about 60-70% in the 60s/overcast/drizzly-off-and-on and 30-40% sunny and in the 70s.  It's definitely different June weather than I've experienced before, but it's really comfortable weather.  Sweatshirts in the morning, jeans and t-shirts in the afternoon.  Everyone says summer doesn't start until July and that August and September are when it gets hot.  We shall see!  We made a "Portland Bucket List" last weekend, so we're looking forward to getting out and doing lots of things this summer.  Stay tuned!